Micaela Sinclair had never been the kind of person to let paranoia get the better of her except Cheong Jihai has been testing it. For weeks, ever since she first dreamed about him, she noticed him lingering just out of reach when she found herself alone. Often a shadow that would disappear when she turned to look. Then there was a gift, usually gold jewelry. Flowers placed in her bag; antique necklace carefully placed between her textbooks like a bookmark. Each time, there was a lingering scent of incense and ash left with it.
That's how she realized it was him. At first, she didn't want to quite believe it, because wouldn't a guy as handsome and tall as him feel confident enough to approach her? Now, she was sure it was him after a while.
She wasn't naive though. She knew better than to accept strange offerings, even when they were undeniably beautiful with expensive gems. Though, she couldn't bring herself to throw them away, either. Diamonds, the diamonds, they were so hard for her to leave in a trash bag for long. Jihai didn't seem dangerous though, but it was still quite unnerving with a man following her when she was alone.
Still, she found herself ignoring it. After all, what could she do? It wasn't like she could accuse him of stalking without evidence, especially when he didn't directly interact with her, and she rarely actually saw him yet been able to take a picture. It wasn't like she could accuse him of stalking her without sounding like a complete lunatic to most people who favored. Besides, she was a foreigner in Chengdu, and the last thing she needed was to draw more attention to herself.
Tonight, she decided to stay behind late in the library. Her coursework has been piling up recently, and the silence of the dimly lit space was comforting without her wanting to fall asleep. In one hand, she held an apple in her palm and a stack of notes in the other with her mind too occupied with her work to worry about Jihai. For a while, at least.
Her teeth crunched into the side of the apple as she leaned back in the chair, and she scanned the room to rest her eyes. It was empty, as usual. The librarian had already left, and she had the entire space to herself.
That was until she smelled incense and ash lingering nearby before she finally saw him. He somehow was sat in a table near the back without her noticing with a book open in front of him. His dark eyes lifted to meet hers, and she exhaled sharply, because she never realized how intense his eyes were when you caught his attention.
He didn't move. Nor smile or speak. He just watcher her as if he had every right to do so.
"You finally decided to show your face?" she turned called out to him with a frown upon her face.
When she said that in scoffed with a smile on his face. Suddenly, her unease was replaced with irritation because he literally had no shame. She shifted her gaze back to her notes, deciding to ignore him just as he did her, and he took another bite out of the apple. That was when it happened.
She tried to cough, but her air was completely cut off. Her eyes widened in panic as she dropped the apple and clutched at her throat, because of chunk of it was lodge in her throat. She tried to cough again to force it out, but there was nothing. Then she tossed her torso against the edge of the table to perform the Heimlich maneuver on herself. Maybe it was because she was already too weak to put much force on it.
Her vision began to blur as she fell against the table, scattering her notes and textbooks across the floor. Wait, where the hell is Jihai?
Her eyes fell onto Jihai, as she pleaded with her eyes for help. Jihai didn't move. He didn't even flinch, he just sat there as though he was watching a scene in a play. What isn't he helping me?
Snot spilled from her nose and saliva dripped from her mouth as she tried to hold on though the room started to spin. Her legs gave out, and she collapsed upon the floor as she gasped soundlessly. She still watched Jihai as the world grew dark around him. The last thing she saw was Jihai's calm, detached face while she still reached out weakly, though she knew he wasn't going to help. She still hoped.
Then, nothing.
+++
Cheong Jihai leaned back in his chair as he sighed before he fixed his gaze on Micaela's lifeless body that was sprawled across the library's floor. Her grey eyes were half-lidded and lifeless as she continued staring towards him, her right hand outstretched with her nails digging into the carpet.
The room was eerily silent, save for the soft hum of the overhead lights and the ticking of her watch on her left wrist. Jihai scoffed, because of how cheap her watch was, even the threads in the band were frayed.
He reached down to touch the inside of her palm. She was dead. Her heart had stopped beating. Her blood no longer circulating. Her brain was inactive and deprived of oxygen, and within minutes, her cells would have begun to decay.
Death was unsurprising to Jihai. Human was always so fragile.
It was when they were able to recover from death is when his curiosity is piqued. He has been aware of this about Micaela Sinclair for a while now, because Micaela Sinclair was not human.
It was after he found her in the Huang Cheng River. She had injuries on her neck from where someone strangled and broke it. The next week, she was alive and back on campus like nothing happened.
He was sure her murderer did too. This left he with two issues—Micaela Sinclar not being human and someone else knowing that. For weeks, he been gifting her with jewelry to suppress her powers and following her.
He sighed as he stood up and made his way over to her. This wasn't even a murder attempt, but her own clumsiness. He crouched down beside her body as he studied her face with mild curiosity. She looked quite peaceful, as if she bad accepted her death. Jihai knew better. Witches die easily, but they don't stay that way for long.
If he were to leave her, it would be a matter of time before she woke up. Maybe the apple would rot and soften enough to slip from her throat. Or maybe maggots would eat through the blockage. Right now, it wasn't an option. There are a few cameras around the library, and they all caught him entering the library and if he were to leave when someone find a dead girl—well, he didn't want the bother.
With a resigned huff, he turned her onto her back. Then he gripped her jaw as he forced it open. With his finger, he hooked a finger into her throat and fished the chunk out. He tossed it aside with little regard.
"Chew properly next time," he muttered under his breath as if he was inconvenienced.
He stood up as he glanced around to make sure they were really alone. For a moment, he considered leaving her and letting her body handle the rest. That wouldn't do, if he just left after she had saw him left her choke, she definitely wouldn't want him around. He couldn't risk her drawing the right conclusion.
Honestly, the truth was that Micaela had no idea what she was. She didn't know what was simmering underneath her skin and kept saving her life every time. Even more annoying, she wasn't aware of how much trouble she causes him, yet she looked at him like he was a predator.
Honestly, he didn't know what was more dangerous letting her discover the truth or keeping her in the dark. She would lose her composure if he told her a murdering killed her, and she kept coming back to life. He rather her be cautious rather than lose her composure.
Either way, she was a complication he hadn't anticipated.
His fingers waved around, before she slowly rose into the sky. Her body rose to his eye level before he lowered her back into the chair. He gently laid her head upon the table and be pushed her arms underneath it.
He sat across from her at the table. His arms crossed as he opened a textbook as he observed her, still lifeless. He wasn't in much of a hurry; he had all the time in the world. Death was a temporary inconvenience for someone like them.
Jihai tilted his head slightly, as he listened over the other sounds in the background. There was no twitch of life, no faint fluttering of breath. To anyone else, she was dead and gone for good.
Her body was already working. He could see her warm undertone return to her complexion. Her lungs were dormant, but he knew not for long as he heard her blood as her heart pounded.
He waited. Probably for around two hours. There was something fascinating about how slow witches recovered compared to his kind.
Then he finally heard her snore. It was soft, but a sign she was still breathing before she gasped sharply, and she jolted her head from the table.
As before, her hands flew to her throat as if she was resuming from where she started. Her body convulsed as her body struggled to make sense of the fact, she was in fact alive. Her eyes darted around the room in confusion and her disorientation clear.
"Easy," Jihai said in a low, calm voice.
Micaela's head snapped toward him, and her expression shifted from panic to bewilderment.
"Cheong Jihai?" she croaked, her voice raspy from the ordeal. She blinked as struggled to process his presence. "You… you son of a bitch you let me choke."
Jihai wanted to laugh aloud. She seemed to not be hesitant when she was angry, even if it would be nonsensical to a normal person. "You fell asleep," he said simply. "You must have had a bad dream. How cute."
This made him wonder whether she remembered her killer. She probably would have gone to the police by then. Her brows furrowed while she looked down at herself with a hazy memory.
"I fell asleep?" she repeated with uncertainty. "And you were just watching me sleep?"
Jihai nodded. "It's dangerous."
Her confusion deepened as she glanced around the room, her hand absently brushing against her throat. There was no lingering pain, no sign of the apple that had been lodged there moments ago.
"But I…" She trailed off, her memories refusing to align with his explanation. She distinctly remembered choking, the air being ripped from her lungs, the darkness closing in.
"You what?" Jihai prompted, it seemed like her memory was becoming untrusting to her.
Micaela shook her head in an attempt to dispel the fog in her mind.
"Nothing," she muttered. "It's just…I don't usually fall asleep like that. Maybe I'm not getting enough sleep?"
Jihai walked off without another word. There was no need when she was awake, and her powers wasn't causing a disturbance at the moment. Though he wished she would wear the jewelry he sent her and he even made them pretty and expensive for her. When he left the building ran had poured down upon him. Being worried about her he had forgot to check the weather, maybe he could teleport.
The rain pattered softly on the pavement as Jihai waited against the wall outside the building. He had already known she was coming with her presence as inevitable as gravity to him recently. She was angry—her hurried steps gave that much away—and when she called out, he was careful not to react too quickly.
"Hey."
Her voice carried annoyance, but there was hesitation too, as if she weren't entirely sure how to confront him. He turned his head slowly. His dark eyes met hers, and he noted the flicker of discomfort that passed over her face. She hated that he unsettled her and that she had to confront it.
Good.
He didn't speak right away and instead let the silence stretch. The way the rain was caught in her braids and on her skin, with the muted glow of the streetlamp above them. Was she even aware of how she looked? It would have been quite disarming to any man. Maybe the killer was attracted to pretty women?
Suddenly, she sqared her chest and her stance stiffened in an almost comical attempt at intimidation.
"We need to talk," she said.
He made no effort to move, he just let her words hang between them. From his perspective, she had already lost this exchange by showing up at all.
"About what?" he asked, his voice sarcastically. "Are you breaking up with me?
"About you freaking following me," she snapped. "The gifts. You are showing up everywhere. What is this? Are you stalking me or something?"
Stalking. That word again. Humans were so quick to label things they didn't understand, even as a witch she behaves how she was raised. He let the faintest hint of a smirk play on his lips. Not because he felt anything like amusement—no, her anger was beneath that—but because it would provoke her. She was always so easy to rile.
"Stalking?" he repeated, as though the idea was absurd. "That's a bit dramatic. I just thought you looked pretty with gold and diamonds. Speaking of, why do you keep them but not wear them?"
Her anger flared, her voice rising in response. "No! What's dramatic is you sneaking random flowers and jewelry into my stuff and pretending like I don't exist half the time!" She gestured wildly, her emotions spilling out of her in a messy torrent. "What am I supposed to think? Is this some weird Chinese thing, or is it just you are being weird?"
Her tirade amused him in a little. She was grasping for logic, for sense, why couldn't she accept there is none to be found like everyone else who revered him? Even humand were aware of how inherently chaotic the world is. Sometimes, things just happened. Though, she is right about there being a reason for this one thing. He stepped closer, watching how she tensed at his approach, and let his smirk deepen.
"I didn't realize I owed you an explanation," he said lightly. It was the truth. What reason did he have to explain himself to her? "Did you not accept the gifts without explanation for weeks? And I never approach you, even in private, you're too afraid to approach me. Did it bother you because you thinking I'm keeping some sort of relationship private?"
"How desperate you are to think that?" he added.
"Fuck you," she said, her voice shaking with fury, though he knew she was embarrassed.
He tilted his head with the faintest chuckle escaping him. The sound wasn't born of humor—it was more an automatic response, like exhaling.
"Fuck me?" he repeated, as if considering the words themselves. "Bold words. I hope you know I'm not a gentle lover."
"Don't be disgusting," she snapped as she took a step back, her frustration beginning to mix with unease. He noted the way her breathing changed and the slight rise and fall of her chest. Fear? Not quite.
"I just want to know what you want," she pressed, her voice softening, though he could hear the tension beneath it. "Why are you doing this to me?"
He paused. For a brief moment as he considered answering honestly. Maybe he should tell her that this was to suppress her nature that was not human. That everything he did was to protect her and everyone else, including his peace. But no—she wasn't ready for that at all.
"Because I felt like it," he said instead.
The simplicity of the statement had the intended effect. Her face twisted with disbelief, her voice rising again as she repeated his words. "You… felt like it?"
He nodded with no further explanation. Let her rage. Let her scramble to make sense of him. Better than the other options he had in mind.
When she laughed, it was sharp and bitter. He could hear the cracks in her resolve. Maybe he was being a little unreasonable to her.
"Unbelievable," she muttered. "Do you even hear how creepy you sound right now?"
"If you say so," he said in a tone of indifference. "But I think you like the attention."
Her reaction was immediate, her hands balling into fists as she glared at him. "You're impossible!" she shouted as she spun on her heel. "Stay away from me, or I'll report you!"
As she turned to leave, he almost let her go. Leaving her with this would cause her to avoid him more often. Without thinking, he called out to her.
"Micaela."
Her given name slipped from his lips like a thread being pulled taut. She froze, and he saw the shiver that ran through her as heard the hitch in her breath. Slowly, she turned back to him with her anger now a little dissipated.
"I like you, that's why I want to be near you," he said softly. "But don't waste your time trying to figure me out. I'm just an odd guy."
He let his words linger before adding, "I'm sorry."
For a moment, she didn't move. Her expression caught between confusion and anger as she squinted. She knew he was lying.
"Fine, if you like me so much. Let's start dating," she said narrowing her eyes.
Jihai smiled, "Date me? Do you even know what it means to date a man like me."
"It's a simple yes or no answer," she smirked as they both became soaked under the rain. "I could give you time to think about it."
Jihai chuckled, because who did she think she was. Him?
"Really, you might want to consider what you're asking. Liking you and dating you is different," he said as he walked closer, but this time she didn't step back.
"What does that even mean?" she said as she raised her head as she looked up at him. The raindrops falling all over her face.
"It means," he said slowly, "that when you're with me, you're never just with me. It's not just dates or pretty words. It's sacrifice. It's control. It's knowing that if I say you're mine, you are mine, and nothing—no one—can change that."
"Unfortunately, for you I can guarantee our relationship will be nothing like that. I offer none of what you're talking about," she admitted with a smirk. "Still, is isn't a no?"
Jihai could tell her intention were hidden. He was too amused by her at the moment.
"No," he said. "It's not a no."
"I'll let you think about it," she said, as she walked away from him the rain still falling as she dissappeared around the corner.
"Maybe she does know she is a witch?" he said in suspicion as he walked the other direction. "At least her eyes are lovely."